Review: Come Fall In Love at Opera House is ‘a marvel to behold, full of vibrance and flair’

Come Fall In Love pays homage to the original film while adding a modern twist to a Bollywood classic.

The show is based on an iconic Bollywood fllm called Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge, which premiered in 1995 and can still be seen daily at the Maratha Mandir theatre in Mumbai.

Come Fall In Love at the Opera House

The film follows a young woman called Simran who lives with her father, mother and younger sister in London.

Her father informs her that she is to be married to his friend’s son Kuljit, and Simran is conflicted.

She asks her father if she can go on one last trip before the wedding.

He agrees, and off Simran goes to Europe. Here is where she meets Raj, with whom she forms an unlikely friendship.

Raj shows her fun and freedom that she feels like she will not be able to have once she’s married.

And this is where they fall in love. But of course, it is never that easy.

Cultures collide and worlds collide. The show follows the same storyline with a few changes for the stage, and is directed by the original director of the film, Aditya Chopra.

The set is utilised to the max. There is one song where the cast go through Europe and they change the set to match the city.

Bringing Punjab to Manchester

They also go to India in the second act, and boy, they really did bring Punjab to Manchester.

The colours were so vibrant and they used Indian clothing and props to really bring the Punjabi flair to the stage.

It was a marvel to behold and seeing my culture being represented was a feeling I wanted to feel again.

Scenic Designer Derek McLane commended for their work.

Exquisite costume and fabulous music

The costumes were exquisite. Each character had their own style and it carried on throughout the show.

If you have seen the film, they paid homage to the colours and clothing of the original film.

It was wonderfully done. My favourite costume was Simran’s green sari that she wears at her engagement party.

In the film, she wears a green lengha, which is a long skirt and top but they changed it to a green sari, which I loved because it was so beautiful.

A show that requires heavily to portray a culture that is so rich but is also defined by the clothing, the costume makers and designers did an incredible job and should be very proud of their work.

There are quite a few names to be mentioned as so many people worked on them.

The costumes were made by Banrasi Baithack, DSI and Beg Borrow Steal Studio. Costume designer was Linda Cho.

Music that steals the show

The music is what makes the show. The music from the film is a staple in Bollywood so they had a tough challenge to bring that magic to the stage.

And they rose to it because the music was cheeky, and it was fun and it was smart. It was well written and performed with such execution.

The songs were written by Nell Benjamin who is behind Mean Girls and Legally Blonde. The music was done by Vishal Dadlani and Sheykhar Ravjiani and these two are Bollywood legends.

They are behind another Bollywood favourite called Om Shanti Om. They brought their Bollywood magic to the Mancunian stage.

I have never seen so many South Asians in a theatre before and it was so beautiful to see.

Everyone looked so amazing and it felt incredible to be in the theatre. The screams that erupted when iconic lines were being said and when the iconic music was being played was deafening.

It was the loudest show I have ever been to and definitely my favourite.

I have two highlights which of course are Jena Pandya (Simran) and Ashley Day (Roger).

Incredible choreography at Come Fall In Love

Pandya made me feel very sad for the South Asian women who sacrifice their own happiness for their family’s. I felt like I was watching a spat between a South Asian family on stage and she brought that guarded yet carefree energy to the stage.

When she was experiencing all the Western things for the first time, I had a flashback to the first time I had alcohol and I felt seen.

Experiencing these things when you were so sheltered from the world is not normal to most people but seeing it being portrayed on stage was a funny and exciting thing to see.

That said, when she sang the song ‘Better Get Right’ the audience loved it.

The prop work and the choreography were so well timed and funny. Ashley Day brought cheekiness to the show.

He has the biggest character development (besides Simran’s father) where he learns to accept her culture and not change it. When he sings ‘Desi Kudi’ he does a move which is Shah Rukh Khan’s (Raj in DDLJ) move that he does.

All it is, is he leans to the right and raises his arms.

That’s it. But it’s iconic. And when Ashley Day did the move, the whole theatre screamed, understanding the reference.

Come Fall in Love is an explosion of colour, light and culture. It is a beautiful homage to Bollywood’s longest running film.

Tickets for Come Fall in Love at the Opera House

You can fall in love at the Opera House until 21st June and you can get tickets here